unsigned artist

There is definitely something really exciting happening in rock and roll at the moment. Bands such as The Blinders, The Idles or The Velvet Hands are like a breath of fresh air. Let’s not forget The Himalayas, Shame, The Strawberries or Bang Bang Romeo: Then, there are The Americas – A Worcester based trio quickly joining their ranks. We sat down with the band to discuss a wide range of topics from the appreciation for their music, travelling with This Feeling and performing at the BBC Music Introducing Amplify conference in London to their admiration of Big Moon and the troubles on in the US of A.

Don’t you find it a little bit ironic that the band considered being the hope of the British rock is called The Americas?

The Americas: We are not sure who exactly considers us the hope of British rock music but we guess a British band being called The Americas is always going to be a bit of a talking point! (laughter)

The band was formed at the end of 2015 and quickly developed a large fan following. Tell us more about your beginnings.

The Americas: It was a pretty natural thing for us. Aaron Whittaker and Harry Payne were always writing and singing songs, listening to the same records and going out to the same shows. Somewhere along the way, we decided to take it a little bit more seriously and started to jam with other musicians. We poached drummer Alex from a psych band that was doing the rounds in Birmingham at the time and immediately shut ourselves away for a year. We played a handful of one off gigs through the first half of ’16 trying to work out what on earth we were and what sort of sounds we made, but most of those early days were spent throwing ideas around and just hanging out in our little practice room.

You are the only band from Worcestershire that has been included in the famous, This Feeling circuit, a music company that includes band management, a record label, and a series of national live shows. It is run by Mikey Jonns and hosts the biggest names in rock: Kasabian, The Rifles, Noel Fielding, and Noel Gallagher. What does a local band just starting out have to do to be added to their roster?

The Americas: This Feeling have been very kind to us and have offered us a lot of great opportunities this year. We are not sure if there’s a simple tick list when it comes to building relationships and working with promotions companies/record labels or whatever. We just love to play our music for people and we really mean every one of our songs. I think the key is being honest and transparent. There’s a lot of confused music around.

The Americas – photo from band`s archives

You are often described as “music to ride your motorcycle to” but we do not find this accurate. We rather see you as a very intriguing combination of classic southern rock (think The Black Crowes in their Amorica era) with eloquence of the college rock (think Collective Soul or LIVE), a bit of post grunge but with a lot of back ground in modern independent British music: The Libertines, The Sherlocks, Razorlight, Primal Scream. Best of both worlds really.

The Americas: (laughing) You can listen to us while you ride a motorcycle if that’s what you want to do, but yeah, trying to label/categorise music is always a weird one. We are glad you hear lots of different things in our sound. We listen to anything and everything from Gospel Rock to Motown, Punk, Trip-hop or whatever… You’ve got to keep your ears on their toes so to speak.

The Americas regularly shares the stages with well established acts. You have supported The Twang at the sold out show at 02 Academy Birmingham, you played along the Bluetones, Blaenavon and Trampolene among others. Is there anyone else on the contemporary music scene you would like to play with?

The Americas: Tons and tons of artists. Our dream show would be to play with Courtney Barnett. She’s a poet and a badass player and she’s just got that magnetism you know? A really, really fantastic song writer. If we’re bringing it a little closer to home, we really dig what those Big Moon girls are doing. We think that would be a sweet show.

Popular online music magazine Gigslutz stated that 2017 belongs to the Americas and awarded you the title of the Best Newcomer 2016. You have beaten several bands heavily championed by national radio stations such as Cabbage or Hinds, a Spanish all female rock sensation with an album on the official UK top 40. How do you feel about it?

The Americas: Yeah that was nice of them. We’d only officially been a band for a couple of months at that point. It’s nice to see publications back completely independent bands.

The Americas live at the Truck Festival in 2017

Gigslutz praise is not the only one. You have won backing from some of the industry heavyweights: Mikey Jonns of the Feeling, Hall or Nothing music promoter Caffy St. Luce, New Musical Express magazine. Everyone agrees that you stand out of the crowd. Right next to Soeur and The Assist, you are the face of West Midlands music scene. It must come with some pressure. Did you expect such fantastic response to what you do?

The Americas: We don’t feel pressure when it comes to our music. Only the pressure that the songs themselves demand. The pressure to do each of them justice in our own minds when we go out and play live. We’ve always done what comes naturally to us. If everyone hated the music we write, we’d still be writing it. It’s a personal thing and we get a real kick out of seeing these songs take form. Obviously it’s a great feeling when other people have a good reaction to the material too, and we love it when we look out and people are singing the words back to us. We really love and appreciate our fans for sure.

On October 7th you performed at the BBC Amplify conference in London in front of a huge crowd. Were you excited? Did you prepare anything special to sweep The Beeb bosses off their feet?

The Americas: We’re always excited to go out and play music together and we’re really happy to have been invited along to perform. The BBC has a really great thing going on in terms of it’s Introducing program. Unfortunately we haven’t prepared any dance routines or indoor firework displays this time (laughing).

In all, Amplify was a great experience for us despite the face that we got told last minute that the slot would be acoustic one so we were a little gutted not to have been able to put on a full show. Saying that though, it was still good to have a few beers and mingle with so many fellow musicians and music industry types. No tricks to sweep anyone off their feet no. We think it’s much more important to let the music and performance do the talking in those scenarios.

Your live performances are usually described as perfectly choreographed and prepared in the tiniest detail, yet they contain a great deal of spontaneity and wildness. It’s the good old rock and roll, freedom and creativity.

The Americas: We absolutely love live performances. Putting on a good show is very important to us. It’s a modern world and there’s not a lot of patience out there and you can see it reflected in the nature of the social landscape these days. Throw-away Instagram/Facebook stories that last for 24 hours and then are lost forever. People scrolling through news feeds, and watching the first 5 seconds of 100 different viral videos and not taking any of it in. It’s hard to get noticed in a world of quantity over quality, but we believe in our material and we play it with passion whether we’re performing to 5 people or 5000 people. We want our audience to feel that passion. We want to help them to feel free, even for a short while.

The sleeve to Something`s Gonna Happen single

Several online websites mentioned that you are about to enter the studio to record an album. Is there any truth in these claims? If so, is it going to be an independent release or issued through a record label?

The Americas: We’ve been in and out of the studio throughout September getting down some new material. We’re really excited with how things are sounding and can’t wait to get the music out there. We haven’t figured out what shape our next release is going to take just yet though. Watch this space.

We are very tempted to ask you. Razorlight put it nicely in their song – “All my life, there’s trouble in America”. What does The Americas think of the recent troubles over the Pond: the orange individual, the travel bans and the wall?

The Americas: It’s fair to say none of us would have voted for Trump if we were US citizens. The times are turbulent and confusing and we have problems of our own in this country also. It’s really sad. We’re supporters of basic human freedoms. It’s enough to keep you up at night, isn’t it? It’s important to do the smaller things. Do right to others. Show compassion. Be human.

The last but not least – what are your plans for the nearest future? Are we going to see you playing local gigs anytime soon?

The Americas: Our plan for the near future is to put out another single by March and then continue to write, release and perform our music as much as possible. Maybe a few tours up our sleeve and hopefully another great festival season. Keep your eyes on the Facebook for announcements. Our next gig is at The Lexington in London with The Blinders on 21st of February, we are also trying to confirm few more dates as well. Otherwise, we just plan to keep on living the impossible dream and hoping not to die in the process! (laughter)

We don`t know how to describe the last few months but you simply cannot follow The Americas fast enough. They are like Tasmanian Devil or The Roadrunner. You think you got them covered, but they are ahead of you by two miles by the time you say “Something`s Gonna Happen”. The speed in which the band makes ripples on national level is shocking. That`s a correct word – we hardly see bands progressing at such rate. Just few examples – hold on tight.

The band recorded a session for BBC Introducing Hereford & Worcester at the Phoenix Theatre in Ross-on-Wye in October 2017. This live session has been broadcasted on Saturday November 18th (right before Thanksgiving Day – nice one Beeb!) to rave reviews from listeners.

And then all hell broke loose. On December 23rd 2017 The Americas have been featured on national radio – BBC 6 Music as part of Tom Robinson Show. If you don’t know Tom from his musical career that spans four decades (“2-4-6-8 Motorway“), you may know him from his career as DJ and his own portal that champions new music (Fresh on the Net). Tom is one of the biggest taste makers in United Kingdom and one of the most cherished DJs on BBC 6 Music. Having a spin on his show – is not a small feat. Being featured on Christmas show is like winning a lottery. No wonder that The Americas response was very emotional.

The Americas reacted to being played on BBC 6 Music on December 24 2017

Early January seen The Americas being featured in influential Some Might Say Zine – as one of the bands that will shape 2018. We ordered a copy for our archives and this is how it looks. Sahera Walker – the founder of Some Might Say keeps a hand on the pulse when it comes to new musical icons and believe us – she hardly gets it wrong.

This is not the first time, Some Might Say mention The Americas. Back in August 2017, Sahera wrote about the band:

“The Americas, man, what a band. A group I bang on about a lot on here, they’re an undeniably brilliant force of pure classy rock’n’roll. Despite the name, The Americas are quintessentially British, with their riffs and the way they play epitomizing perfectly classic old school British rock’n’roll. They use a keyboard in their music, accompanied by this raw feel good guitar rock sound, which is a unique and refreshing set up for a band”.

We agree wholeheartedly.

Cover of Some Might Say Zine #2 (January 2018)

The Americas featured in Some Might Say Zine #2 (January 2018) as one of the bands of 2018

On 6th January 2018 BBC Introducing Hereford & Worcester unveiled their own top ten of best bands for 2017 and guess who was ranked at #2? Yep, The Americas. At this stage, we were not surprised to hear Andrew Marston praise the band for their melodic songs and incredible energy. The show featured “Something`s Gonna Happen” being aired, followed by a short interview with the artists.

The Americas being ranked at #2 of BBC Introducing Hereford & Worcester – Best Band of 2017 on January 6th 2018

“They are a sensational hard rock ‘n’ blues get up with a blow-the-house-down set that could translate into a debut album perfectly.”

Northern Exposure is overseen by two lead women – Rachel Brown and Kate O`Brien who beside running the magazine, also manage and promote local artists, book gigs and mentor young acts. Similarly to Sahera Walker of Some Might Say, ladies of Northern Exposure are very active and know their craft well.

Same day (January 10th 2018), two gigs were announced. On January 24th The Americas would play a gig in London at The Rock Steady sharing the stage with Sleaze, Black Orchids and Willow Robinson as part of Independent Venue Week.

Poster for Independent Venue Week gig at The Rock Steady in London, 24 January 2017

The other show would take place on 21st February, also in London, but at The Lexicon. Here The Americas are to support The Blinders – one of the most influential bands that come of the UK in the last 30 years. We are not kidding. If you haven’t familiarized yourself yet with The Blinders, you got to tackle this unforgivable faux pas right now. Before people start regarding you as a uncultured savage.

Tour poster for The Blinders upcoming tour

The Americas/The Blinders combo is unreal and we think this is going to be equivalent of all those legendary gigs that people talk about for years. We are actually thinking of attending. Though it may prove tricky.

Of course not a day goes by without another announcement. On January 11th, The Northern Exposure in association with EUFest and Musicians Against Homelessness unveiled semi finals for InMusic Festival. 20 upcoming bands fight for a slot at the main stage at InMusic Festival in Croatia to support such legends as Nick Cave and Queens of the Stone Age. Guess who got their place among best acts? The Americas will have to go though two more stages (music industry insight and live performance) to win this opportunity of a life time – but they already proved to be more than your average indie outfit.

Right. That would be just about last four -five weeks in the life of a band that is tipped for one of the best acts of 2018. You see now why.

We will keep reporting.

Mal+Rita

***Update: 15.01.2018***

Few days passed and we have to make an update as so many things have happened. Where to begin? Let`s start with the show in London on 21st February at the Lexington where The Americas will support mighty The Blinders. Well that gig is now sold out (two tickets left as we write so technically no chances to get in). The Blinders so far have two other shows on their upcoming tour being sold out and one of them is on their home turf in Manchester.

The Americas announce their gig at the Lexington in London with The Blinders is a sold out affair -15.01.2018

Not only will The Americas play with one of the most exciting bands on the planet, it will also be a full house. If that doesn’t make you want to bounce off walls in joy, then you must be (no rock and roll) fun at parties! A shout out to fellow A&Rs in London Town. Get yourself on the guest list. This show will be epic.

Another good news is that “Something`s Gonna Happen” is currently being a Tune of the Week at BBC Hereford & Worcester. The Americas are Artists of the Week as well on the BBC Intro and they got a spin on the show of a popular BBC DJ Georgey Spanswick.

Proof is on Twitter:

Artists of the Week for BBC Intro 15.01.2018

And the best news of all is of curse update on In Music Festival. Six bands have been chosen to the live stage of the competition and West Midlands are proudly presented by The Assist and The Americas. The Assist are incredible, we have seen them last year and love them since. Like The Americas, they are This Feeling alumni and a kick ass band.

The Americas making to the finals for Northern Exposure competition to earn a spot at In Music Festival in Croatia.

It will be a hard fight in the live stage but we will keep our fingers crossed for The Americas! Yeah!

Welcome to 2018! We would like to wish you a very happy and prosperous new year and we hope it will be better than the last one. This year is going to be a very important one for our Worcester Music Scene and of course Vanadian Avenue crew will be keeping our eyes and ears open for anything music related. Please add us on Facebook if you haven’t done so yet to stay in touch with the latest information!

We would like to kick off 2018 in style with the first interview of the year. Ladies and gents, we give you the excellent White Feather Collective!

***

Believe it or not, there must be definitely something in the famous Malvern spring water. After the success of fellow Malvern rockers Nuns of the Tundra at the national Firestone Battle of Bands competition and incredible releases from Dead Dads Club (they are playing Marr’s Bar with HVMM this February), here comes The White Feather Collective, swinging rock and roll quartet that has a major chance to represent England at the famous SXSW Conference & Festivals in San Antonio. We sat down with WFC to discuss their new material, previous accomplishments and sneaking into Glastonbury Festival.

White Feather Collective are:

You are immensely popular in West Midlands. But just in case somebody spent the last few years living under a rock. Who are The White Feather Collective?

White Feather Collective: We guess, the easiest way to describe us would be we are a four-piece rock band from Malvern. The boarder definition would be who we are is what we aim for. We want to change some part of this world through music to make creative escapism as popular as it was. We want a big scene of groovy people loving all day and night, not just to escape the current state of things but as a means to change it. It sounds daft like a hippy dream, but it is so much more. The world is run by liars you’ll never meet and we want some power shift where what we say it counts and we see the efforts of our strain. Music is just one way of getting us on the same page and talking about that.

BBC Hereford & Worcester put you forward to the panel that chooses the BBC Music Introducing South By South West (SXSW) showcase line-up. Potentially, you could play at the biggest music conference in the world in Austin, Texas. Previous alumni of the BBC stage include among others The Big Moon and Idles. The first were nominated for Mercury Prize, the other recorded album of the year. No pressure, right?

White Feather Collective: No pressure at all! The fact we’ve been nominated encourages us to continue on the path we’re on. We just have to dream bigger and continue to put more loving energy into everything we do. The overall goal is to share good music with people and keep on riding that high.

The band formed in 2014. One year later, you had about twenty recorded songs and one of them “Come On and Get Down” was used by French company WIKO Mobile in their international campaign. Can you tell us how did that collaboration come to be?

White Feather Collective: They found us on Bandcamp. It was an early demo EP we nearly didn’t put on. Looking back, it was a good job we did! The coolest part of that was the video they made to go with it and the fact it was blasting out in huge stadiums!

White Feather Collective scored some prestigious gigs: The Water Rats in Kings Cross and The Monarch in Camden. And they were sold out shows. You also regularly perform in Scotland. How does the audience across the country react to your music?

White Feather Collective: The audience seem to react very similarly everywhere we go. They are all very warm and welcoming and tell us they dig our sound. Of course, it all depends on what night you’re put on in these places, really. For example, a Wednesday night in central London can be a bit hit and miss whereas the same night in a country pub could turn crazy. It’s all about the vibes, man. But still we find it’s the best way to try out new tracks and see what people respond to. We see it as a work in progress and some songs get left for recordings and others are better to be performed live.

April 2016 saw you recording a session for BBC Introducing at the Phoenix Theatre in Ross-on-Wye. You were partnered with another group tipped for national success – nth cave. Do you have any recollections from that session?

White Feather Collective: Honestly not much (laughter)! We’d come from a gig up north the night before so we were all quite hung-over and tired. We do remember singing Roy Orbison with Andrew Marston quite a lot though and that felt nice!

In October 2016 you released your five track debut EP “Universal Harmony” and then followed by a stand-alone digital single “Doorman” in November of the same year. We tried to find one bad review of either and we simply couldn’t. Very unusual, but it seems nothing is ordinary about White Feather Collective.

White Feather Collective: No, you will not be able to find anything ordinary about us. We’re all very unusual! (laughing)

This summer you spent mostly playing festivals (The Orchard Venue in Ledbury, West Fest, Mello Fest, Lakefest, Nozstock) with few performances in Wales (Cardiff, Monmouth) and one in Bristol (Mr Wolf`s). Is any new material coming or are you just taking things easy?

White Feather Collective: Yes, we were lucky enough to play some great festivals. Some down in Cornwall and Glastonbury which our singer, Josh actually had to sneak into (sorry Mr. Eavis!) He was there for about ten days and we had to pull him away. We don’t think he ever wanted to leave! And yes again, there’s always new material we’re working on. At the moment we are just getting funds together to get into the studio to record new songs.

The band started out as a quintet but recently you are down to four members. Can you tell us who departed the Collective?

White Feather Collective: We have always been a 4 piece band but we have percussionists, keys players and singers join us for certain things, that’s why we call it the collective. Our longest serving percussionist is a friend named Robby Rotten. He’s a real dude and often joins us when he’s not riding his motorbike through Africa!

The sound of White Feather Collective has been described as psychodelic surf rock with influences stretching from The Rolling Stones and Animals to Beach Boys, Donovan, Crazy World of Arthur Brown or even Captain Beefheart. How would you describe your own music and influences?

White Feather Collective: Yes, these are some pretty big names. We all have so many influences but we all love the iconic sounding records of the sixties and the people who make BIG songs that are still so popular like The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Velvet Underground.

You prefer to have a complete control of your art: writing, filming, recording, designing and producing all the aspects of your musical presence. That is a very unique approach in the era when bands employ entire armies of collaborators.

White Feather Collective: It’s a story of two halves, really. We’re poor but we’re also creative people and truly enjoy doing it (laughter). We would love the opportunity and want to collaborate with other artists but financially it’s not viable. Naturally, we all work in the creative industry, whether it’s recording music, film making or photography. This has helped us enormously.

You have substantial following online for an unsigned band. “Come On and Get Down” has been viewed over 80 K times on Youtube while “Crossroad Shootout” has over 34 K hits. Your songs on Reverberation have been listened by thousands of visitors. We are sure you already receive proposals from the labels. Ever thought of jumping ships and getting signed?

White Feather Collective: We’ve only received an offer once but unfortunately it wasn’t right for us at the time. It’s an incredibly important decision for a band and one that will set our direction for time to come. We’re very open to the idea and would love to sign if the right opportunity arose with the right label, but for now we’ll continue to do what we enjoy.

In the element – The White Feather Collective photographed by Duncan Graves

Any plans for the future, maybe except for the world domination?

White Feather Collective: Nah just continue making things, living the best we can and keep trying to meet Robert Plant! (laughing again)

On Saturday, January 6th, 2017 BBC Hereford & Worcester aired a short interview with The White Feather Collective and gave this very blog a shout out. You can here the 5 minute segment on the band and our interview right here:

The time has come to run the final chapter of our series showcasing artists from our local music scene in Worcester (and neighboring regions) that will be all over the radars in 2018. We have saved some absolute gems and proper legends for this entry and we are hoping you will be enjoying this blog. Because we had an absolute ball preparing all the entries and profiles. It was also a lot of work, we will admit but we are absolutely in love with finding new music and bringing it to the audience. That`s what A&Rs are for and we are at your service if you ever need to find new artists to listen and fall in love with!

If you would like to familiarize yourself with previous entries, click on the links below:

And now dear readers, let us introduce you to a handful of kick-ass artists from our neck of country-side.

Grafton Ash

Grafton Ash

Grafton Ash are known for incredibly energetic performances

Starting off as a duo in 2014, Grafton Ash is currently a four-piece pop/rock group from Bromsgrove. Formed by childhood friends, Dan Roberts and Dan Blake, they were joined by Stephen Ashford and Sam Dimmick in early 2015. The band released their debut EP “Avalanche” in June 2015 and it quickly received very positive reviews from local radio stations. Their title track was named the Track of the Week twice by BBC Hereford and Worcester and Grafton Ash received an extensive airplay over the next 6 months. On 3rd of September 2016, they were officially included into BBC Introducing and recorded a three song session for DJ Andrew Marston alongside the Worcester/Bristol indie rock outfit, Vertigo.

Grafton Ash is touring nationally, frequently to the full-house shows in places such as at Birmingham O2 Institute, London O2 Academy, Islington and Covent Garden’s prestigious Hospital Club. They supported Flye, Tom Walker, Reef, The Feeling, The Fratellis, Racing Glaciers and recently James Blunt on 25th of November during his “Afterlove World Tour” at The Arena in Birmingham,.

Grafton Ash released their second EP entitled “Existing” in 2017 and they are currently in the middle of a promo tour that will last until the Spring 2018.

People behind the indie dance/pop trio, Silverlake are probably the most experienced musicians from the Worcester scene. After the breakup of their previous band, the septet Vivarama in 1998, Robin Dalleway (guitar and chief tunesmith), Tony Sherrard (aka Shez, bass) and lead singer Sally-Ann Parker (aka Miss Smartness) returned to their home town of Redditch to concentrate on a new material. Vivarama’s mix of dance rhythms with indie pop and rock sounds brought them a critical acclaim and led to several music videos being filmed for the band between 1993 and 1998. The most popular of them was “Updoor” filmed inside popular club The Flapper and Firkin in Birmingham. “Updoor” premiered on MTV Dance Night with VJ Simone Angel in 1996 and then entered regular rotation as part of Party Zone and 120 Minutes (hosted by Toby Ames). Vivarama was also supporting Lighthouse Family. The band was also awarded for their video to “Let`s Talk About Love” at Film and Television Festival in Birmingham in 1993.

Even before joining Vivarama, Robin Dalleway already had a successful music career. In 1977, he became a founding member of jazz-punk band The Cravats (they recorded 5 sessions for John Peel at BBC Radio 1) and in 1982, he formed postpunk quartet, The Very Things with whom he released 6 singles and 3 albums (they all entered Top 40 at UK Independent Chart). The band played two Peel sessions for Radio 1.

For many years, Silverlake recorded music without releasing it and kept their performances to minimum (appearing only a couple of times, for example at Worcester Music Festival in 2015). Their first song “Twist” still remains unreleased, but in 2010, they issued their debut album “Paradise Place” through Magnet Records. Their most current singles include “Black Ponytail”, “Drop By Drop” and “X (Marks The Spot)”. Silverlake received airplay on BBC Hereford and Worcester, BBC West Midlands and a mention at BBC Introducing.

The band is inspired by soul and funk music, the Coen Brothers and David Lynch movies, groovy Californian Pop, Miles Davis, Jackson Pollack, Roxy Music, and Chill Out/Lounge sounds.

Singer/songwriter Ewan Pollock (or as he is known locally “the boy with a guitar”) is the first person on our list that is not native to Worcestershire. He was born in Glasgow but moved to Worcester as a child and adopted The Faithful City as his hometown. He specializes in acoustic folk/rock genre and is inspired by the works of Glen Hansard, fellow Scotsman Paolo Nutini, Frank Turner and George Ezra.

Since 2013, Ewan has performed at many events around Worcester and beyond. In 2014 he reached finals of the nationwide singing competition”Open Mic UK” in Birmingham receiving positive reviews from judges and audience. He played at Worcester Music Festival three times (in 2014, 2015 and 2016), participated in Free Radio Summer Sessions at the Crown Gate Shopping Centre (where he was chosen the most promising artist) in 2015 and 2016, Worcester Moto Show (High Street stage), Festival at the Fountains (South Quay stage), Worcester Foodie Festival (as part of “Young and Talented” stage on the High Street), Christmas in Worcester (Worcester BID stage) and Severn Sounds Festival‏ at Pavilion in the Park stage. He has also graced the stages of The Old Pheasant, Café Blis (supporting Worcester Soup charitable project), The Marr’s Bar, The Firefly (all in Worcester) and Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham.

Ewan released his first digital standalone single “Home comfort” in 2015 and a demo EP “Make it count” in 2016 (“Lady in the Dark”, Distractions”, “Make it count” and “Too late”). The leading single “Lady in the Dark” was played on BBC Hereford and Worcester radio and was featured on podcast show by popular online DJ Matt Barker in November 2016 (Matt is a presenter of the MattBarkerRadio and broadcasts on 60+ radio stations worldwide via the Deuce Radio Show).

Ewan is currently working on new music and has several concerts already booked for winter and spring 2018.

Official bio: A bunch of free-thinking, rock n roll survivalists came together in Worcester and produced a plethora of gorgeous, chin-out songs. Honing their craft, fittingly, in an attic studio above a notorious watering-hole (overlooking their home town of Worcester), they’re great lads but they ain’t here to take nonsense off anyone! Reminiscent of The Kinks, 13th Floor Elevators and sharing elements of your other favourite classic bands. They write a hell of a tune and have a great stage presence to boot.

Formed in 2016, Elephant Peel is a brand new band on Worcestershire scene, but it is quickly making a name for itself. The quintet consists of experienced musicians: Joe Thomlinson (vocals and harmonica), lead guitarist Matthew Randall (aka Randall), drummer Guy Bradnock, bassist Sean Gandy and Matt Crawford (nicknamed Crawford) responsible for rhythm guitar/backing vocals. Before forming Elephant Peel, Joe played in two well known Worcester bands: Virals and Something Men that also featured Matt Crawford and Sean Gandy. Something Men released 4 stand alone digital singles “Mud Brown Mistress”, “Birdy Roof”, “Go Diddley” and “Last Night (Was The Last Time)” that received a lot of airplay on local and internet radio stations. “Birdy roof”/“Mud Brown Mistress” was also released in a physical copy as a double-sided 7’’ single through EZPZ Records in September 2011. It was chosen a Song of the Week by BBC Hereford and Worcester in November the same year.

After Something Men disbanded in early 2012, Joe started working with Matt and Sean again which led to the formation of Elephant Peel. They recently released a demo single “Universal Stream” and played a string of popular local gigs including headlining two sold out concerts at Heroes (organized by Surprise Attack) and The Firefly (part of Boneyard Sessions). The band is inspired by Syd Barrett, The Kinks, The Beatles, Richard Hell, Jennifer Gentle and Graham Coxon.

2018 will see Elephant Peel in the studio (they are now working on more material to be released in the first quarter) and on the road (concerts are already booked and will be announced soon).

Chloe Elliot performing at the Christmas Lights Switch On ceremony in Worcester, November 23rd, 2017

At 16 years old Stourport-on-Severn native, Chloë Elliot is considered a pop star in the making. She started singing as a child and further developed her singing and song writing abilities at performing arts school in Birmingham, where she received classical training in theatre, dance and stage presentation. Of course, she passed every exam with a distinction.

Chloë spends her free time from school either in the studio recording the songs she wrote or performing. In the last year and a half, she performed more than 60 times as a solo artist in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Greater Birmingham area receiving positive reviews. Her song “One” was selected as the “Song of the week” by BBC Hereford & Worcester which lead to her being interviewed on-air by popular DJ Tammy Gooding.

Her debut single entitled “3 Reasons” was released in early September 2017 and went into heavy rotation on BBC Hereford and Worcester Radio. It won her the recognitions for the “Song of the Day” and “Song of the week”. It was also named the post popular song among young listeners in November. Chloe was invited to BBC Introducing at Christmas Lights Switch on in Worcester by DJ Andrew Marston and her performance was seen by thousand of visitors on the High Street.

2018 may be a breakthrough year for the young artist. She has recently preformed for scouts from two biggest record labels in the world (Universal and Warner) and she is already booked for several shows in the early spring and summer.

Official bio: Winchester are a new British 3 piece that drags high octane prog, metal and hardcore screaming into the popular arena. Their emotional riff-laden assault course crashes and flows through cinematic soundscapes with no room for boundaries. Drawing from the intense social climate of today, Winchester have nurtured a sound and a concept that rings true with the twists and turns of tomorrow. With a live show that manages to re-create and somehow elevate their epic sound, this is something fresh that you will not want to miss. Life Begins.”

Worcester/Cardiff/Bristol based band Winchester are three piece outfit balancing between progressive rock and old school hardcore à la Biohazard, Pro-Pain or Crowbar with heavy metal inspired vocals instead of rap. The trio consists of producer-turned musician Scott Mahoney (responsible for excellent debuts of Nuns of the Tundra and HEXEN) on guitar, Adam Catalan on lead vocals and bass and Max Edkins on drums.

Winchester was founded in late 2015 and the band deliberately stayed quiet despite touring nationally and internationally (Germany, Belgium France in 2016). Lack of social media presence, stripped contact with the press and performing live resulted in a very raw yet appealing sound that was captured in the studio and perfected by legendary record producer Dan Weller (SikTh, Enter Shikari, Young Guns). Winchester spent more than a month preparing their full debut album entitled “Life begins at these dead ends” and it will premiere on 9th of February 2018. The album is available for pre-order now on all major platforms.

The first single from the album, “Life begins” was released 15th of December 2017 and received positive reviews from online rock magazines and from BBC Wales DJ Adam Walton. It will be followed by second single “Diamond” in late January 2018.

At this moment, Winchester is on promo tour in the UK. On 18th of November, they played popular club Hobos in Bridgend with As Lions and Greyhaven UK and on 29th of November they headlined sold out show in Bristol’s The Fleece with Holding Absence, Loathe and Phoxjaw. They will play Bristol again on 28th of February along with Loathe and there are talks of their gigs supporting Sever and Time & The Valuator later in the summer.

Winchester draws inspirations from the music of Muse, Biffy Clyro, Fightstar, Northlane, The Architects and Enter Shikari. They are represented by Imperial Music, an artist and event management company based in South Wales.

As Mamas performing live at the opening of Paradiddles in Worcester December 15th 2017

Founded over two years ago, Worcester-native psychedelic rock and roll duo, As Mamas consists of Harrison Baird-Whitman (guitar, vocals and harmonica) and Joe Devine (drums and percussion). Influenced by the Californian 60’s music, the group managed to create a very unique style, the-one-of-its-kind on the Worcester indie scene.

As Mamas released their debut self titled EP on 16th of July 2016. It was recorded in an original 60’s caravan (that was turned into a studio) and was produced, mixed and mastered by the band. It included four stand alone singles: “The Lights Are On but Everyone’s Wasted”, “World Wide Blues”, “Mama Moved” and “Zenobia”. Their single “The Lights Are On but Everyone’s Wasted” received a lot of airplay on Birmingham Radio, Free Radio, BBC Hereford and Worcester, 102 Touch FM (Shakespeare’s County & tThe Vale) and was featured on a compilation album “ENTER THE VOID” released by Donut Records in August 2017.

For the last year and a half, the duo has been touring the UK extensively. Along with The Americas, As Mamas are the only West Midlands acts that appeared on This Feeling circuit. As solo artists, they played Birmingham on several occasions including the Sunflower Lounge with The Whitelights (during their EP launch), Ten Tombs, supported The Cosmics alongside LCKD and Quinn (October) and appeared at Birmingham Blues Fest Saturday at the Big Bulls Head in Digbeth (July). They have also graced the stages in Worcester appearing at the Firefly club supporting Solsara alongside Happy Bones and in Heroes with Elephant Peel and Slumb Party (October and November respectively).

As Mamas regularly performs in London as well, usually to the clubs at full capacity. Their recent sold out shows include gig at Amersham Arms (alongside MONIKA, James Beau Barcley and Spinner) and Reverberation Psych Fest at Victoria Dalston with Strange Cages, Dusty Mush and Insomnichord.

Other notable shows include BBC Introducing Session at The Booth Hall with Raptor and New Revival (April 21st 2017), charitable concert at Alestones in Tardebigge Court in support of Anawim (women’s refugee organization) on October 28th and supporting popular Nederland group MY BABY on 7th of April.

Their latest video and a new single entitled “19th Floor” were released on September 11th and were directed by Caitlin Setterfield. “19th Floor” will be featured on their next EP “Parte Dois” to be released on 10th of March 2018. The band will play a show to celebrate the launch with a gig at the Sunflower Lounge. Tickets sale date and supports will be announced soon, so stay tuned.

Time of the Mouth perform at the opening of Paradiddles in Worcester on December 15th 2017

Time of the Mouth is Kidderminster based punk rock trio that has been around longer than any of the previous bands we have written about (with the exception of Silverlake). Over the years, the outfit gathered a strong fan base in West Midlands and beyond. It looks like 2018 could be a breakthrough year for them.

TOTM was formed at the beginning of 2010 and went through different line ups changes. Since 2015, the band consists of Chris Jones (vocals and lead/rhythm guitar), Ash Greenway (bass and backing vocals) and Jake Fox (drums and backing vocals). Their back catalogue can only be described as the most impressive. They released their first EP “Third Time lucky” in May 2012 (including singles “Amy”, “The Only Way Out”, “Tears” and “Take Me With You”). “The Only Way Out” proved to be so popular that it was played not only on local BBC Hereford and Worcester radio, but also in America, Australia and Japan. Their second EP “Snorkeling with Jesus” was published on May 2nd 2014. It was a 5 single EP containing “Lost”, “6 Feet Under”, “Snorkeling with Jesus”, “Euphoria” and “Another Level”. Again, two singles “Euphoria” and “Lost” received a lot of radio airplay on BBC Hereford and Worcester, Birmingham Radio and Touch FM. Their stand alone single “Urgent Joe” released in 2013 was named the single of the week by BBC Hereford and Worcester.

Their newest EP entitled “What Would Dave do” was released on August 11th 2017 and contains 4 singles: “Going Back”, “My Disguise”, “Too Obvious” and “ELG3”. A promotional video to “My Disguise” was filmed at Shredder Live Lounge Studios in Birmingham. A stand alone single “Miss The Madness” was also released on May 26th 2017. It is worth adding that its music video features a popular actress Eleanor Ham known from BBC series “The Doctors”, “The 4 O’Clock Club” and theater productions of “Les Miserables” and “Cinderella”.

TOMT is known from very energetic live show and frequently tours nationally. They have performed in London, Birmingham (at prestigious The O2 Academy Birmingham & the LG Arena Birmingham), Bristol (Louisiana), Nottingham, Sheffield, Cardiff, Worcester (The Marrs’ Bar, Paradiddles), and Manchester among many other places. They also perform at many summer festivals between May and October (including Tower Stage at Drunken Monkey Festival). The band is inspired by Less Than Jake!, Reel Big Fish, Green Day, Spunge, Fall Out Boy, The Used, Placebo and Bowling For Soup.

And it`s a wrap our dear readers. Three long chapters full of bands that will rock your socks off and make you dance in your kitchen in the coming 12 months are yours to enjoy. We will hopefully see you somewhere at a local gig, next to the speakers. If we meet – come and say hi and tell us if our predictions were correct

There will be more to come on Indieterria in 2018 but we we will be changing our format a bit to get more interesting. You will see 🙂

Welcome back to the second part of the Vanadian Avenue official guide to the new, exciting and emerging bands on the Worcestershire Music Scene.
If you have missed the first part of this blog, don’t panic. Please click on the link below and you will be able to read everything about the bands mentioned there:

Are you ready for another dosage of the super talented and ready-to-take-on-the-world musician from The Faithful City? We hope so, as we have some superb artists to show you!

Happy Bones (Iggy Cuthbert)

Happy Bones playing live photo by Alex Knight

Happy Bones (aha Iggy Cuthbert) by Josh Foster

Official bio: Happy Bones is a Worcester based folk project written by Iggy Cuthbert. Joined by Daniel Merry who provides backing vocals and rhythm guitar. Melancholic, sleep deprived and intimate folk tunes. Sung in a trembling voice, the influences range from Elliott Smith to Conor Oberst.

Worcester born and based singer/songwriter Igor “Iggy” Cuthbert is a busy body. He is a solo artist (performing under the name of Happy Bones), a poet, visual artist and a music promoter. As Happy Bones, Iggy played extensively in Worcestershire alongside nth cave, Thousand Mountains, Solsara, Ben Dallow, Iosif Norrisache (Joe Norris), Luke Steele, Sam Clines and others. He was also a lead singer and guitarist for the band Shia and lead guitarist for another alternative outfit, Gooche.

Happy Bones released a self-titled debut EP in 2017 to very positive reviews. Iggy described it as “a project I wrote and recorded in 15 days. The EP was full of mistakes, wrong notes and skipped beats. It’s intended to be honest and intimate. I wrote the songs as sketches and ideas and I hope whoever listens to them keeps that in mind.”

As a music promoter, Iggy is a member of The Boneyard Sessions along with Hector and Fergus Brazier and Alfie Newman of nth cave. He works with music venues in Herefordshire and Worcestershire organizing open mic nights, spoken word sessions and concert for local and international artists such as the German indie-rock outfit, The Black Rattles.

Iggy curated a stage for Worcester Music Festival at the Old Pheasant headlined by popular Worcester quartet, RVRMN.

Brought up in Worcester and Evesham, Ben Dallow spent several years living away from West Midlands residing in Liverpool and Bristol. His music has been described as a classic rock, with mix of psychedelia and a lot of brit pop. It shouldn’t come as a surprise as his influences include Paul Weller, The Jam, Oasis, The Stone Roses, Primal Scream and Ocean Colour Scene. Known among his friends as “Brit-pop Ben” due to his musical style and image, Ben has been performing in Worcester music clubs and venues, sharing stages with many established and local acts.

He played at 9th and 10th edition of Worcester Music Festival (2016 and 2017 respectively) and curated a music night on September 15th at the Firefly under “Ben Dallows Presents” banner. He introduced several new acts to Worcester scene including Plastic Scene, Ghosts in the Photographs, Elephant Peel, Pink Diamond Revue and The Actions.

Alongside poet Joe Norris, Ben is a part of Random Name Generator artistic project created to popularize poetry and acoustic music in Worcestershire. Random Name Generator closely works with other local promoters including The Hive, Worcester University, Boneyard Sessions, Slap Magazine and Sudden Attack. As a solo artist, Ben supported Birmingham based electronic/hybrid music trio Lycio in November 2017 at the Bottles and Jesse River Dylan Murray during the launch of his debut EP entitled “Classical Music” in July. He was also involved in Worcester Canal Festival in 2016 and 2017.

At only 26 years old, Becky has a resume of an artist and performer twice her age. In the last 4 years, she has performed more than 250 times nationally, with her biggest concerts being held in Birmingham, London (Troubadour Club and Amnesty International Headquarters) and Manchester.

In June 2012 while still a student at University of Worcester, she performed an original song for The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to commemorate the opening of The Hive, the biggest library in Worcestershire. Her performance was recorded and broadcast live on BBC Hereford and Worcester. It also received mentions in the national press and radio.

Two years later, after beating nearly 37000 candidates from the UK and Ireland, Becky was selected to attend the BBC Introducing Musician’s Masterclass at Abbey Road Studios in London where she met artists such as Calvin Harris and Mark Ronson and the bosses of companies including Columbia Records and XL Recordings. As an unsigned artist, her songs received national airplay on BBC 6 Music and Radio 1. Becky’s music has been championed by Andrew Marston and she was invited to record her sessions for BBC Introducing in Hereford and Worcester twice in 2013 and 2016. Becky was also interviewed after her fiancé and fellow musician, Ruben Seabright decided to propose on stage in the middle of Dr Stanley’s Medicine Show! Mrs Seabright performed several times at Worcester Music Festival to full houses. She is the only Worcestershire artist with number one hit in the charts! One of her songs made it to the top spot on Amazing Radio Top 20 which led to her receiving professional music tutoring from Air Management of Air Studios in London (Radiohead, Travis, Doctor Who franchise).

She is inspired by Boradway musicals, Queen, Danny Elfman, Regina Spektor and Hans Zimmer. Becky works now for Worcester University as an events manager and performs extensively.

Founded in 2013, Worcestershire quartet RVRMN (pronounced “Riverman”) consists of Joe Powell (lead vocals, guitar), Ben Growcott (drums), Will Maeers (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Morgan Whitebeam (bass). 2017 has been a breakthrough year for the young band. They released their debut EP “Back to Bed” in February and embarked on a tour to promote it that took them to Birmingham (The Flapper), Bristol (Louisiana), Hereford, Worcester (The Marrs’ Bar), Walsall, and Wolverhampton. They have returned to Birmingham twice more over the summer to headline young bands nights at O2 Academy. They also played at several summer festivals (Nozstock, Offenham Festival) to great reviews in local press including a positive review from Slap Magazine.

RVRMN performed at Worcester Music Festival three times (2014, 2016 and 2017). The last time saw them performing twice in one day, first at St Swithuns Institute and then at The Swan with Two Nicks. On 29th of November they have been invited to record their session for BBC Introducing Hereford and Worcester along with the Americas, Ben Goodwin and Jakebob.

Official bio:Sometimes, timing is everything. When Neil Ivison’s first band (the Janice Long championed Misers) imploded, he soon found his way back out on the road working as a touring guitar tech with the 1975 & Wolf Alice among others. Meanwhile, Sarah Warren’s eponymously named band were also about to call time on 10 years of hard gigging through the UK and & Europe. During a rare day off from an intensive US tour schedule, in a hotel room in the Californian desert, beside the 29 Palms Highway and less than 2 miles from the infamous Joshua Tree Motel (where 42 years previously, Gram Parsons had met his untimely end), Neil, finally admitting that his passion for writing songs and playing his own gigs had become eroded, took the decision to finish the current tour and return to the UK to work on new music, inspired by the regular jaunts to the southern States of the US. Neil: “That same afternoon, I was aimlessly browsing social media and noticed Sarah had written a post announcing the end of The Sarah Warren Band. Having been a fan of her incredible voice ever since I first heard it, I immediately dashed off a quick email to see if she’d be interested in working on something new together. I think I just put “Any Chance?!” in the subject line”. Luckily, Sarah’s mutual appreciation for Neil’s work with The Misers meant that she was more than eager to see what could come out of collaborating together but not before she had grabbed her musical cohort, die hard Americana fan and ex Warren Band bassist Nick Lyndon. The 3 got together over several months in the autumn of 2016 to kick around some ideas with Nick & Neil forming a prolific song writing partnership, giving birth to 12 new tracks in the first 2 weeks alone, as well as revisiting some old songs that were rejuvenated with new & dynamic male/female vocal arrangements. Once the songs started to take shape the trio dug out their address books, made a few calls and were soon bolstered by Roger Roberts on Hammond/Piano and Vocals and former RedBeards sticks man Duke Delight on Drums and began rehearsing in earnest.

Worcester/Hereford based band, Stone Mountain Sinners consist of Neil Ivison (vocals, guitar,) Sarah Warren (lead vocals), Nick Lyndon (bass), Roger Roberts (keyboard/hammond) and Duke Delight (drums). Both Sarah and Nick previously played together in an established Worcestershire outfit The Haunted Souls, while Duke was a member of the RedBeards.

Before joining SMS, Neil Ivison also had a successful career with his previous band, The Misers and as a solo artist. The Misers toured nationally and worldwide playing legendary venues such as Astoria, Royal Albert Hall and Club 100 in London, The Viper Room in Los Angeles or Fillmore in San Francisco usually at full capacity. Neil performed live and on records with members of Squeeze, The Sex Pistols, The Cult, Guns n’ Roses, The Specials, Morrissey, Ocean Colour Scene, The Proclaimers, The Wildhearts, Groove Armada & Tenpole Tudor. Many of his performances were broadcast live on BBC Radio 2 and Sky Arts. He was also championed by Janice Long (BBC 2 journalist awarded the prestigious BASCA Gold Badge for her unique contribution to music in 2016). Most recently Neil scored a Top 10 record in the UK Album charts as vocalist on The Professionals album “What in the World” (released on October 27th 2017 through Automaton Records).

Stone Mountain Sinners have appeared locally on several occasions including a short set on April 30th at the Swan with Two Nicks (Malicia’s gig of the year). The popular pub in Worcester city center was packed to the last place and a huge crowd gathered outside trying to get in. Their gigs around Evesham (The Regal and The Royal Oak) became the talk to the town bringing Robert Plant to see them. On 7th of December, the band made their London debut at the Bordlerline, supporting Men They Couldn’t Hang. The Sinners will release their debut EP in the late spring 2018.

Ren Wolfe, better known under the pseudonym of HEXEN is Worcester native singer/songwriter, costume designer, model and visual artist. She currently resides and works in Cardiff. HEXEN describes herself as “pop noir” or “goth pop” and finds inspiration in pulp novels, occult and sexploitation movies from the 60’s and 70’s. She is also interested in horrors and witchcraft motives and their influence over pop culture. Her favourite band is The Cure.

Ren has worked closely with several notable Welsh and Worcester musicians. She sang backing vocals on a well received single “Float away” by Nuns of the Tundra and supported them on stage during promotion of their EP in Worcester (Marr’s Bar) and in Bristol (Louisiana).

She released her debut EP “Holy Hell” on 14th of August 2017 to excellent reception from press and Spotify community where her songs received thousands of listens and likes. The three song release (“Baptism”, “Sacrifice” and “Salvation”) tell a story of an elaborate revenge and can be classified as a concept EP, something very rare on an indie circuit. It was produced by Scott Mahoney at Strange Trees Media and mastered by Joe Caithness.

Scott Mahoney has nothing but praises for HEXEN for their work together:

“The EP was written completely in the flat. HEXEN wrote some beautiful songs and then came to me. We worked on the music together to get the songs to where they are now. We went into the studio in Malvern, up in the middle of the Hills to record the vocals and extra layers, and then I went away and mixed it all together. The whole process took a few months from demos to finished tracks, and there are more tracks currently being worked on”.

Over the summer, Reverbnation placed Ren in their top 5 pop chart for Wales in 2017, Our Culture Mag (blog) described her as “dark pop artist, her powerful and moving music is starting to put her on the radar” and she was interviewed for BBC Wales by DJ Bethan Elfyn in June 2017. Ian Critchley of Louder Than War Magazine described her EP as “atmospheric, emotive and brimming with soul, heaven for pensive ears. Baroque and Roll for all the lost souls”.

HEXEN was championed by DJ Adam Walton at BBC Wales. In May 2017, he included her on BBC Introducing Wales and in July, she became their Artist of the Week. She was also named one of the emerging new artists on BBC Wales three times: in May, August and September 2017. HEXEN’s songs are included in several official Spotify play lists dedicated for rising indie stars: “Wonky Sensitive”, “Fringe Music Fix”, “Find A Song” and “Pop Daily”.

Fronted by Worcester native, Harry Jones, the Bristol based project Vertigo is one of the best kept secrets on the West Midlands and Bristol indie scenes. Formed in 2015, the band underwent several line up changes and at this moment consists of Charlotte Tunnicliffe on drums, Aaron House on bass and Harry Lee Jones on vocals and guitar. Vertigo are somewhat elusive and do not perform much, but each of their concerts is always well attended (such as the sold out gig at The Fleece in Bristol). Their debut single entitled “Breath” received a fantastic response from local media and the band was quickly spotted by BBC DJ Andrew Marston. They were included into BBC Introducing in Hereford and Worcester on 3rd of September 2016 along with Grafton Ash. “Breath” also received an extensive play on BBC Hereford and Worcester radio. The band is inspired by Jesus and the Mary Chain, The Stone Roses, The Beatles and The Velvet Underground.

Vertigo is now working on new material to be released in the second half of 2018. Judging by their new demos, we can expect great things from them. They are Rita’s discovery of 2017. Honestly, she has not been so excited about a band since The White Lies and they went on to have a spectacular career!

Wheew! What a ride! One can get a serious case of vertigo being surrounded by so much talent in such a small place. We keep saying it, but we are extremely proud of our musicians, the entire scene and the people who work so hard in the background to make the gigs and events happen. Hats off to you, ladies and gentlemen.

It is not possible to mention all the bands that are playing clubs, bars and venues in Worcester, but we are constantly on the lookout and if we see anybody worth a mention, we will be more than happy to add them to the next edition!

It’s the middle of the month and Indieterria is now back with another cool band you just have to know. Usually people like us here at Vanadian Avenue (professionally known as Artist and Repertoire or A&R’s for short) are sailing the vast waters of the world wide web in search of another talent to bring it to the surface for your enjoyment. It is a hard, ungrateful task at times but once a truly talented band or a musician is found, a long and successful career can begin.

Mutant-Thoughts logo

Sometimes we don’t have to search at all, the bands approach us themselves and all we can do is to sit, listen and admire as they are excellent at their craft. Our latest guest, Mutant-Thoughts found us on social media and we had to invite them to Indieterria as they are truly unique band!

Official Bio: Mutant-Thoughts is an experimental synth-rock band formed by Han Luis Cera (vocals and synths), Joshua Lennox-Hilton (bass and backing vocals) and Tom Pearmain (drums). Their unique sound combines traditional rock music with electronic sounds, eerie vibes and beautiful melodies. Mutant-Thoughts’ live shows are a spectacle that cannot be missed – it is equally energetic and emotional, filled with odd time signatures, crazy electric signals, heavy bass lines, eclectic vocal harmonies and to the listener’s surprise, no guitars. Using synths, drum machines and other special effects, Mutant-Thoughts is able to transform their surroundings into a completely new, detailed musical reality. The band released their first album in 2016. Their latest EP entitled “Is This Me?” was released in September 2017.

We are sure all music journalists can wholeheartedly agree that looking for a new, interesting band to write about can be tricky. Among millions of self released singles, YouTube videos and EP’s filled with repetitions or (in worst case scenarios) bad cover versions, discovering a true gem sometimes feels like mission impossible. Yet the hours spent listening to home-made demos are rewarded when you come across a band that captivates you with their music within seconds. We all know that feeling: the music starts, you close your eyes and a beautiful sound landscape unravels its mysteries to you through lyrics, tempo changes and fuzzed guitars. Good things do come to those who wait and we are really lucky to discover Bristol based trio that calls themselves Mutant-Thoughts. Vanadian Avenue sat down with their lead singer, Han Luis Cera to discuss their beginnings, unusual name and growing up in Latin America.

We have interviewed many bands with unique names, but yours is one-of-a-kind. It could be the title of the next Marvel superhero blockbuster. Where did it come from?

Han Luis Cera: (laughing) I admit, it does sound a bit like the next Marvel/DC psycho-thriller! That’s a film I’d like to watch. The actual name came from a very dramatic break up of my previous band. The whole thing left me in a situation in which I started having thoughts I didn’t recognize as my own, hence the name, Mutant-Thoughts. I thought it would no logger be possible for me to play with a band again. I started writing songs as some sort of personal therapy. However, when I moved to Bristol, I felt a lot better, and was happy to play with others again. I found Joshua Lennox-Hilton (our bassist), and Tom Pearmain (drumer), and I’m very happy and lucky to play with these two guys.

We are interested in learning more about Mutant-Thoughts. When and how did you meet?

Han Luis Cera: I moved to Bristol in 2014 but even before then, I was already looking for musicians to collaborate with. After a while, I met Josh, as he responded to a post I wrote online looking for a bass player. Around the same time, I befriended Pablo, an Argentinian drummer that played with us for the first year; sadly he had to leave us as he moved abroad. He basically transformed all the electronic songs I have written on my own into proper rock music as no band could ever play them in their original version (laughing)! After Pablo left, we played with another drummer named Tobias for about half a year, and he left for personal reasons. Then we auditioned a few drummers. Tom was the first one we heard that day and we were so impressed, that the decision was easy. He just understood immediately what we were doing and it was very easy to get along and work with him.

Han, you are Colombian native. Can you tell us about your life in Latin America. What type of music you grew up listening to?

Han Luis Cera: I grew up in Barranquilla, a port city in Northern part of Colombia. I was exposed to lots of types of music, but mostly Latin. Barranquilla has one of the biggest carnivals in the world, so we are used to listening to a lot of music, all day and every day. It is quite interesting to live in a society where music plays such an important role in our culture. Also, Barranquilla is located on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia; our music is hugely influenced by African music, with heavy emphasis on rhythm. That is the reason why the rhythmic section is so important for Mutant-Thoughts and why we put more fluid stuff on top of it. I enjoyed growing up in Colombia. I think that Latin America has a very interesting way of dealing with problems. People seem to be happy regardless of the situation. And I think it takes a lot of courage to see life like that.

Moving to the other side of the world can be a great adventure or a traumatic experience. How do you find the life in the UK? Was it easy for you to get accustomed to a new reality or did you experience any cultural shocks?

Han Luis Cera: I lived in Amsterdam before moving to Bristol, so I had my fair share of culture shocks when I moved there! Coming to the UK was definitely a lot easier. There are a few things that I find interesting in British culture, (like wearing shorts in the middle of the winter), but I really love living here. I’ve met very interesting and talented people, and I’m doing what I love!

We can imagine that music scene in Colombia and in the UK are completely different. What do you think about the music scene in Bristol? Should we even compare those two?

Han Luis Cera: I think British people generally have great interest in live music. That helps the music scene a lot and it gives the musicians a chance to grow. There are multiple small venues and places where musicians can play and reach new listeners. We only have a handful of venues in Barranquilla where you can see a live band play. Most Colombians tend to listen to music from records or on the radio, rather than live but that means the music is everywhere, even on public transport. During the Carnival season, there are gigs everywhere though.

Your music has been likened to Pink Floyd, Faith No More and Caspian. We hear UNKLE, a bit of Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead. Also, we are not the first ones to point out that when you sing, you sound like Tom Yorke or Davie Bowie from his Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars era.

Han Luis Cera: Some of the artists you mentioned have indeed influenced us. We all have different tastes in music and we bring them into the band. We give each other the space to experiment and grow. All of the bands that we are likened to are incredible and we can only see that as a huge compliment. I personally think we sound different to them, but if I could ever play together with any of those bands, I’d probably go into some form of a shock not being able to believe my luck!

Mutant-Thoughts use a lot of odd time signatures, tempo changes and you are not afraid to experiment with sound. It is not so common these days but reminds us the golden days of the progressive rock: early Genesis, King Crimson, Van Der Graaf Generator. You have learnt from the best!

Han Luis Cera: To be absolutely honest, I don’t really listen to progressive Rock, apart maybe from Porcupine Tree, and Pink Floyd, (if you can call them progressive rock). I don’t really listen to music with odd time signatures that much either. I just have a fascination for rhythm, contrast and I enjoy doing the opposite of what other people are doing. I’m not trying to be interesting or cool or anything like that.

I just think that if something has been done before, there is no need for me to do it again. I’m not sure if we’re succeeding at that, but that’s the idea. I could say that my fondness for rhythm comes from Latin music. There was a lot of jazz influence in 70’s salsa. On the other hand, my fascination with sound experiment streams from feeling limited with the possibilities of keyboard based instruments. As much as I love the sound of a piano, or an organ, the synthesizer is the instrument I seem to be able to express myself most intimately with, but I do still check my parts on a piano though.

Last month, you have released your latest EP entitled “Is This Me?”. It is a beautiful piece of music, very well written and perfectly executed. We are especially fond of two songs: the title track and the atmospheric “Alone”. Can you tell us more about them?

Han Luis Cera: Thanks! I’m really happy to hear that. Well, the whole EP is about going through a rough period in life and being able to find a solution to your problems. It has some very dark moments and it has moments which are more up-lifting. The title song “Is This Me?” is about self-analysis. A question to one-self about what we are doing. Is this really what we want to do? Are we acting according to who we are or are we acting on an instinct? Are our action based on what we believe to be true at that moment or do we have the full picture of the situation? It is hard to find the answer to those questions.

I’m unable to explain just two songs without discussing the context of the other songs at the same time. They are all linked together. The second song on the EP is entitled “Chaos and Entropy” which is about going through the actual problem. It is about losing oneself and just tasting every single moment of that path.

The third composition is actually a poem. I have named it “Trying to Make Sense” which I think the title is self explanatory. Then we have “Alone”, which deals with the sense of realization that after the chaos and suffering, we are actually alone. At this stage, we have taken some distance from the world to give ourselves the chance to deal with our problems. And then we close the EP with “Adaptation” which is about changing, “mutating” into a different person that is now able to deal with the problems left in the past.

Mutant-Thoughts appearance on the Bristol music scene was very well received. You have played alongside new prog/math rock talents such as Last Hyena or YOUTH. When can we see you on stage next?

Han Luis Cera: At this moment, we are working hard on promoting our EP and some of the new projects. We are lucky that Bristol has a great music scene with many, very talented bands we have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with.

We will be playing in Bristol again on the 2nd of November at Mr. Wolf’s for the EP launch of “Siblings of Us” who were kind to invite us to support them. Also, we will travel to London to play at Off The Cuff, the date is going to be confirmed soon. We are looking to add more dates before the end of the year, so please check our Facebook and the official website regularly.

Since we are already in July and the days are longer, we will have a double (or maybe even a triple) portion of Indieterria this month. So much music to listen to and great bands to tell you about. This episode is all about Thomas and Mary Yaman, known professionally as TommyandMary. This is our pleasure and privilege to introduce you dear readers to punk rock duo that is building themselves a cult following in London. Based in Brixton, they work hard, play even harder and have won their fans not only by the strength of their music, but also because of the affection and respect they show each other.

We have sat down with Tommy and Mary to speak about their new album, busking, being independent artists and song writing.

Forget about Sid and Nancy, we have got better couple in town! And they rock!

The Angels of Brixton

The Angels of Brixton

You are described as British answer to The White Stripes. Like Jack and Meg White, you are married and until recently, you have played exclusively with each other. You also divide band duties in similar way as Mary plays drums whilst Tommy concentrates on guitars and vocals. Do you consider comparisons to The White Stripes to be a badge of honour, lazy journalism or perhaps you just don’t care?

Tommy: I think people will always compare us to The White Stripes and many other duos. I personally don’t think we sound like The White Stripes at all. I grew up when The Strokes, Kings of Leon and The Libertines and off course The White Stripes all came out at the same time. But Jack and Meg were never my cup of tea. Mary didn`t even know who they were until someone mentioned them to her while we were busking.

Can you remember the moment when you two decided to form a band together?

Tommy: Yes, very well. We were outside my old apartment where Mary and I lived for a while. The band I was in at the time and Mary joined had split. I wanted to play solo as I found it difficult to cope with all 5 personalities I had to play with at the time. And Mary thought it would be cool if we played just us two and carried on our musical journey together.

The fondness you show for each other is unparalleled on the indie scene. Band bio says “TommyandMary are one word because we are that close”. You wear matching attires (“I prefer the drummer” – Tommy, “Unavailable” – Mary) and then there is “Angels” – powerful love song about yourselves released as a single. We have to say – it is incredible to witness such affection.

Mary posing in her signature “Unavailable” tee

Matching attires.

Tommy wearing his “I prefer the drummer” shirt

Mary: Music is a very sensitive and fragile form of art and the fact that we are married and are in a band together just makes it even more personal. We grow together as individuals and as musicians and the love that we have for each other makes everything seem possible. I hope it shows in our music!

Another thing that sets you apart from other acts is your working ethics. For the last two years you have combined regular gigs with extensive busking. It seems the life on an independent artist is pretty intensive.

Tommy: We’ve stopped busking for now. We couldn’t stand it anymore (laughs) but I think we learnt a lot from it. It built our confidence.

Your busking escapades quickly turned into a permanent residency at the Oxford Circus attracting hundreds of people each time you played. Can you tell us how does it feels to be playing on Britain’s busiest street?

Tommy: Busking gave us an opportunity to meet some amazing people from all over the world and acquire some professional contracts. Mary got sponsored by Underground and we both got sponsored by company called W.S.Studio. Not to mention that we had once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to record our latest album “Authority” at Rupert Cobb’s Gun Hill Studios with the AMAZING Gary Wallis. So I think the goods outweighs the amounts of times we were harassed by the public and judged for being beggars by some clothing companies that had no idea about our passion for performing and playing music.

Tommy at The 100 Club

Mary posing for the Underground brand

Is it safe to be a busker in London? And a question that must follow the first one – is it profitable in the times of everlasting rush and gripping austerity?

Tommy: I think anything is profitable when your passion for something is bigger than the price. And to be honest, no it isn’t safe. Especially when there is still a minority of crazy, ignorant people in the world and as a busker you are exposed to it.

Your regular gigs took you to some of capital`s most celebrated venues. Among many 100 Club, Nambucca, Camden Assembly and now 229. How is club circuit responding to independent acts?

Tommy: We’ve definitely been to some amazing venues like 100 Club and 93 Feet East. It gave us a chance to meet some bands and musicians that have been in the game for a while longer than us. It’s inspiring but also feels overwhelming.

Mary at The 100 Club

TommyandMary supported number of prolific artists, most recently The Telescopes. How do you recall that particular show?

Tommy: Having been on the same stage as some legendary acts, we both felt like we really had to step up and not let our ancestors down.

Mary, you are known for very technical and powerful style of drumming despite downsizing your kit to bare essentials. Something similar was practiced by Palmolive (original sticks woman of the punk heroines The Slits). What inspired you to hit things for a living?

Mary: I can’t agree with saying that my drumming is technical at all. In fact loads of drummers criticised me about the way I sit, hold sticks and set up my drum kit. But yeah, I prefer aggressive style of drumming as it allows me to feel the songs and it is just boring otherwise. Tommy suggested busking one day and I just went with it.

As a band`s chief tunesmith, you don’t shy from tacking contemporary topics such as corporate/precarious work (“My manager is a prick”), obsession with celebrities (“Rich acting Rich For The Poor”) or going though existential crisis (“Red”). Do you believe that it is important for artists to be socially and politically active?

Tommy: I believe if an artist is only writing about ego or their own spoilt opinions, he or she is avoiding the honesty that lays in each person’s heart. Whether this is political or not, the truth is that we are all in this journey together and being ignorant, self indulgent or judgmental isn’t something that I encourage. But being empathetic to both worlds, the ego and the selflessness give me an insight into what lays in-between inaction and people’s willingness to ensemble, and this is something worth writing about. Contradiction is something that is often reflected in my thoughts and actions and I want to learn more about psychological and philosophical aspects of writing. So I don’t think politics is really my strength.

The band is on their third independent release. “Authority” was debuted earlier this year and was recorded at Gun Hill Studios in London. It is a significant change in sound compared to “The Things we love” (2015) and “Smoke Break -Side A” (2016). Your songs are layered, elaborate even. Are you satisfied with this new direction?

Sleeve to debut release Together We Love

Smoke Break -Side A – collage and pins, this record is in our musical archives and is signed!

Authority – third release

Tommy: For our first album “Together We Love”, I had written all the songs and Mary didn’t have much of a say or creative input. But as we grew musically together, we began to think collaboratively on our sound and direction. Our experiences started to reflect in our music and we really started to learn more about our sound and what we wanted to write about.

“Authority” is accompanied by three promotional videos (“Angels”, “Authority”, “The Rich acting Rich For The Poor”) and an alternative DIY video to “The Rich…” directed by the band, a fan documentary and a video interview. That’s an enormous amount of work put into promoting the album. Do you enjoy collaborating with others?

Tommy: We have made a lot of friends from our music and we absolutely love spending time with them. The DIY videos that we made are all about the collaboration that we can have with our friends and using their talents to make things happen. But also it is important for us to have a great time making something together.

We heard though a grapevine that you are planning to introduce a new guitarist to the fold.

Tommy: A lot of bands add members after a while to create a wider range of sounds. We decided that this isn’t the direction we want to take. We want to keep it as it is. We don’t want to change. Although we were thinking of bringing a friend in for our next show as he is an amazing guitarist and writer. I know for sure that he will be very successful with his music in the long run. But no, we won’t be adding another band member.

Random. Last. Question. If you could travel to the golden years of rock music with whom would you tour?

Tommy: The Clash did a lot of busking in their days. So I would have liked to play a few shows with them. I think Mary’s drums would have been a huge factor in pushing boundaries in the late 70s (laughs). Or perhaps I could be in New York playing a few shows at CBGB`s with The Dead Boys, that would have been amazing, having been given the opportunity.

TommyandMary played a very well received gig at 229 Venue in London on 7th July 2017 as part of Absent Kelly`s indie night series. So good was the night in fact, that they were given a rave review in Louder Than War magazine and photographer Marcus Jamieson-Pond dedicated them a whole gallery on his website!

Louder Than War review in full, 16th July 2017

You can see the kick ass review online at Louder Than War (which happens to be this blog`s fav music mag!)

Folks, we`d love to tell you to hang onto your seats, but you will be floored anyway, so find yourself a comfortable spot and listen up. Tommy and Mary had just finished headlining gig last night at The Cellar/The Finborough Arms in Kensington and were so generous to share with us a very cool collection of their concert posters. Exclusive for the blog! We are very lucky. Eye candy those posters are but also serve as a proof that the band played a string of cult venues in half a year: The 100 Club, Nambucca, 93 Feet East, Camden Assembly and The Cellar. All those years of playing and busking and persistence certainly paid off. Nothing builds a brand for a band like doing their own thing and pushing at the boundaries.

Poster for The 100 Club gig on 25.01.2017 while supporting legendary The Telescopes

Poster for the gig at Camden Assembly on 25th March 2017

Poster for gig at Nambucca on May 3rd 2017

Poster for the gig at 93 Feet East gig on 11.08.2017

Poster for a gig at The Cellar/ Finborough Arms in Kensington on 2nd September 2017

Another achievement of the band is even better than playing all the venues in the capital. Tommy and Mary debuted on BBC 6 Music on 18th August 2017 as part of 6 Music Recommends. Picked by the legendary DJ and broadcaster Steve Lamacq himself, they were hailed for being “nicely uncompromising” and tacking a myriad of topics from having annoying housemates to precarious work. If you don’t know who Lammo is, let us tell you this much – he is recognized as one of handful other DJs (with Mary Ann Hobbs and Jo Whitley) to fill the gap left by John Peel and is often regarded as a trend setter. Being on his show is a stamp of good quality and a sign that band is on the right way.

Personally what we found exciting is that Tommy and Mary`s Insecurities were played right after Paul Draper`s new single (yes, the man from Mansun!) and received the same amount of introduction on air.

Here is a screenshot of the BBC website

Screengrab from BBC 6 website

And here`s a (very) bad quality recording of the song and what Steve said:

Let`s take a walk on the wild side. Our next discovery is not only talented singer-songwriter, with a unique sense of fashion and penchant for poetry. They also have a list of inspirations long for a mile (William Shatner, Shrek, Ted Hughes, Stefan Raab, David Attenborough, Julian Lennon to name a few), witnessed Eurovision in Vienna and have a whole box of cds from their trip to India. They play rock but their debut EP is called “Classical Music”. Feeling confused? Good, a little vertigo won’t hurt. We have been observing Jesse River Dylan Murray for weeks at the open mic nights around town and finally had a chance to question them for this month`s edition of Indieterria. We hope you will enjoy this interview, because we surely had so much fun preparing it. Can you blame us? Jesse`s cool as few tons of Persian kittens and we can barely wait for 19th of July when the EP and the jaws will drop.

Life’s got everything to do with music

Look sharp! Jesse is a skilled photographer taking all his promotional shots. Ah those pesky kids today, daring to be creative and talented!

Meeting Jesse River Dylan Murray almost feels like stumbling upon the icons of rock and roll golden era. Soft-spoken, dressed in vividly colorful attire that places them somewhere between Marc Bolan and David Bowie, Jesse instantly becomes the center of attention. Their impromptu, refreshingly innovative sessions at the open mic nights around Worcester are like a breath of fresh air. Having heard the rave reviews, we wasted no time to see them in action for ourselves. This is what we have learnt…

Jesse River Dylan-Murray – that’s a fantastic name and a well suited one for a rock star. Please introduce yourself.

Well, it’s not a stage name in case anyone was wondering, it is my full birth name. I’m apparently named after River Phoenix & Bob Dylan. I’m a guitar-playing songwriter based in Worcester (against my will) and I inhale hope and exhale disappointment. I don’t really aim to become a rockstar – in fact the very term somewhat grates against me like splintery wood. I feel like that whole title has been & gone and comes with this set of specific ways on how to do music which I don’t want to be tied down by. I loathe describing myself almost as much as I loathe BBC Radio 2 & The X Factor.

I always thought Nunnery Wood was a science-biased school… I had very little interest in music generally when I was there. Pretty much all I was listening to at the time was Marilyn Manson & Michael Jackson (my goth phase & my inner child viciously grinding against each other.) It wasn’t until 2010 when I started to really get into music fanatically (starting with Alice Cooper) and I didn’t get my first guitar until the middle of 2013, a year after I’d left college. My mother’s boyfriend, who had been playing since the 60s, probably, gave me a few lessons in the beginning, but the short answer is that I was never formally educated in music nor was I at all inspired by my educational background. I hated school with a near-maniacal passion and still look back on it with disdain.

Jesse as a guitar hero (self portrait)

One of your songs entitled “Smoke without fire” received a lot of airplays on social media. It is a very complex and interesting composition. Can you tell us more about its beginnings? What is the message behind it?

This song I can actually, unlike most of my songs, pinpoint to an exact moment in time. I was having a conversation with my stepdad in a pub last March and we were talking about rumours & the media, and he said something like “People say there’s no smoke without fire, but you know there absolutely is.” And that’s what the song’s really about in my mind. Spurious rumours, dirty gossip, twisted media. From the playground level to the international level. A bit of anger there in that song

Given the opportunity, we have to ask about another of your songs – “Everyone Wants To Look At Me But Nobody Wants To Look Me In The Eye”. With its poetic yet sarcastically sad lyrics and melodic riffs, it almost sounds like a track that didn’t make the cut for The Smiths’ “The Queen is dead” album.

“Classical Music” EP cover

“I live on the outside of the outside because the rebels and the punks and the freaks and the queers don’t want to know me.” It’s a fairly straightforward song I think, with its almost comically mammoth title. Not entirely sure when I conceived that song, but I had the title stuck in my head for what felt like at least a couple of years. I mean it’s obviously about being stared at and not fitting in, as so many songs are (I’m not even a Radiohead fan) but on another level it’s a lot more. It’s about not even fitting in in the usual groups of outcasts, feeling out of place literally everywhere, accepted or otherwise, but most importantly not even having any clue what you are. To paraphrase the brilliant Chicago-originated musician Ezra Furman: “People say ‘oh just be yourself’ but I don’t have any clue what that is…”.

Your debut EP entitled “Classical music” will be released on 19th of July. What can we expect? Are any of your previously released demos included or are you going to treat your fans to something completely new?

Smoke Without Fire is on there in the center of it. Everyone Wants… is currently being worked on to be released separately. The EP will contain 6 tracks – 5 original plus an instrumental bit of classical music (hey-hey did somebody say theming ho-ho) – at a rather beefy 31 minutes and will cost £3 – that’s the same as a meal deal readers, only this lunch don’t have no consume-by date! It will also contain the bouncy anti-pop protest anthem That’s Got Nothing to Do With Music, which I’ve been bombarding poor old Worcester with for a while and will most likely be released as the leading single for this by the time this issue of SLAP comes out, available for download. So get on that.

You have recorded at the famous MayB Studios in Pershore along many established acts such as jazz sensation Hot Fingers, London legendary punk rockers Bad Habits or Worcester Music Festival veterans Amorphica. How would you describe working with one of the best music producers and engineers in the county?

The studio’s owner, Peter May`s top person. He always knows exactly what he’s doing and is pretty quick to figure out what you want if you’re not sure how to describe the sound you’re looking for. He’s in the room with you through the whole process – no soundproof glass, no separate room – so you get a proper teamwork feel to it and it’s pretty easy to communicate quickly enough and make the most of your time there (which is also pretty cheap at £10 an hour.) He is, so far, my only experience of working with a producer/engineer and I feel like I’ve lucked out. You also get to work with some pretty swanky top-notch equipment, and if you’re really nice to him he’ll even make you a lovely cup of tea.

Imagine you have a chance to gather any musicians from local or international scene to create an ultimate artistic dream team. Who would share the stage with you and why?

Thinking locally, I’m a big fan of Ellie Williams and her end-of-the-world song writing and absolutely bellowing pipes. Looking forward to her EP when it comes out and I’d love to work with her. I also like Ben Dallow quite a lot – locally nicknamed “Britpop Ben” for I suppose his rather Gallagher-esque appearance and drone. He has a great non-stop style of guitar playing where he mixes rhythm and lead really well, and gives the impression of being so ice-cool you could hit him with your car and he might not even notice. There’s also Rueben Lovett, Cheltenham-based guitar player and a brilliant writer. Only ever seen him live once so far, right after I’d just left the stage at Marrs Bar’s open mic. I was so sweaty and needed to step outside to cool off, but found myself rooted to the spot by this unique charisma he has. A bit punky but largely just special. Don’t know about a bassist and drummer though… just a load of writers & mostly guitar players lacking the foundations. Chaos.

Sit down next to me (auto-portrait)

Your fashion sense is very unique and you have been compared to David Bowie’s stage persona of Ziggy Stardust and Adam Ant’s Prince Charming. What inspire you?

My sense of fashion just exploded one day in Cheltenham, when I was 15 years old. I was there seeing my very first ever gig, and my friends & I found this vintage clothes shop on a side street called Browsers. And I’m talking ridiculous vintage here: flares, tassels, glitter, shoulder-pads, zebra-print. I’d never been somewhere like there before. Prior to that I was on the tail-end of my goth phase and moving into the zone of checkered shirts (God knows why) but in that shop something in my head clicked and said “Hang on… I can wear anything!” And I went to that gig that night wearing this ridiculous heavy red velvet waistcoat with 2-foot-long tassels dangling from it (still got it too.) My sense of fashion just evolved from there and that wear-anything philosophy. I’ve since lost sight of the point of even gender-pigeonholing and mix in the make-up, heels & dresses with the suits, leather jackets & jumpsuits. I want it all. I just get bored very, very easily and don’t like to stick to one style for long.

What are your plans for the rest of the year? Where can we see you play live?

My EP launch party will be at The Chestnut on Wednesday July 19th – that’s free entry as well – and I’ll have my very first paid gig at the Brecon Fringe Festival on August 13th. Beyond that I’ll keep inflicting myself upon the open mics of Worcestershire – primarily The Marrs Bar, Firefly & Chestnut – until I move away. I’m still small time. I’ve only been performing regularly for about 14 months. You’ve caught me in what are hopefully only the very early stages. Just another noise-maker in a line of noise-makers. Though my noise is often a few decibels apart from the night’s standard – either quieter or louder, depending on my general mood and whether I want to croon about a mythical Greek monster or bellow & growl about alcohol. Do come see the noise, though. It will be – deep breaths now – FUN.

As we said, before we sat down to talk with Jesse, we seen them several times performing live and each time Jesse would blow us away. Their stage presence is immaculate and the clothes and killer shoes are just unearthly. It`s like Richey Edwards raiding Bernard Butler`s wardrobe in the 1990s. Or Freddie Mercury, or Syd Barrett or Brian Molka or Marc Bolan or Stevie Nicks…it`s like walking on set of Velvet Goldmine, Breakfast on Pluto live… we can go on until tomorrow morning.

We took some shots for you, so you can judge for yourselves.

Jesse`s amazing stage outfits.

Dressed to slay we tell you.

Classic look and killer heels

We will see you on the 19th July for the EP launch. As Jesse said – it will be FUN.

xxx
Mal+Rita D.

**** Update 26/07/2017****

New Poster for the EP launch

Pushing at the boundaries – “Classical Music” EP launch

Chestnut Inn in Worcester is an unusual place. For starters it looks like it should belong in Hay On Wye. Books and antiques can be found in every corner. On second glance, the pub feels like a crossover between Leaky Cauldron and Peel Archive. Fat, red cat roams around demanding cuddles from the customers, big portraits of rock and blues stars on the walls seem alive and there are vinyl records in big piles near the bar. No wonder that Chestnut was chosen as a venue for Jesse River Dylan Murray`s EP launch on 19 July 2017.

The Chestnut Inn in Worcester

This place is like Cash in the Attic episode

Some of those records are really old and still being used!

Large portraits that give Chestnut Inn quite a character

Chestnut Inn decor is out this world, we tell you.

That is self explanatory!

A wild child of Worcester music scene, Jesse cannot be easily squeezed into a box and they have more aces in their sleeve than a skilled gambler. One moment channeling Bowie, the next singing like Tom Waits, Jesse easily changes from glam to indie to alternative with charm and buoyancy that captivates the audience. We can tell you that when we entered The Chestnut, the house was full.

Before Jesse hit the stage, we had a pleasure to listen to two support acts: Stephen L Wright (locally known as Nobby Wright) and Benjamin Dallow. Stephen L. Wright continues a proud tradition of classic blues and we are sure that sooner than later Nobby will find himself on the other side of the Pond. Ben Dallow (who filled in for Redwood as she could not perform due to conflicting schedules) on the other hand is fully immersed in British rock. There is a lot of Oasis and Paul Weller influences in Ben`s music but since when comparison to the Modfather is a bad thing? Dallows version of Jam`s That’s Entertainment was fresh and done in his own style, so no complaints from us here. It also should be noted that Ben`s performance was arranged the night before the EP launch at a last minute but it worked out perfectly. That’s the beauty of our local music scene.

Ben Dallow during his performance

Rock`n`Roll star

We think we need to introduce Ben to Mikey Johns of This Feeling.

Once Ben Dallow finished his set – it was all about Jesse and their music. With their signature guitar, full make up on and snow white shirt, Murray mirrored Richey Edwards in passion and stage persona and equaled American indie sensation Michete in outspokenness. They played the EP in full and when that was not enough, they turned to a cover (brilliant version of Heroin by Velvet Underground).

For a young performer Jesse surely has dedicated friends – some of them came as far as London for the launch and at the end of the night, Jesse was presented with a huge bouquet of summer flowers. Not Morrissey-esque flowers but equally sweet.

Bold in their performance, but there was a bit of stage fright too, we think.

Rocking to a crowded room

Jesse on stage

a view from the first row

In their element

Not everything was perfect. Jesse like many other acts has to learn on the job and perhaps the set was too longish but we did not really mind. Even if we had to buy the EP from one of Jesse`s friends and not the artist themselves.

It was a fun night – full of excellent music, chaos, silly conversations, too many pints and had all the marks of “I was there” moment. If given right amount of endurance in this dog-eat-dog industry, Jesse River Dylan Murray has all the talent and persona to become not just a local starlet – but a full grown rock and roll start in their own right.

If you need to purchase a copy of the EP – please click on the link below. It costs just £3 and supports a very talented performer who, like many on Worcester music scene, is fully independent and DIY.

Cover of the digital single That`s got nothing to do with music that accompanied the EP launch

The EP is accompanied by a free download digital single “That`s got nothing to do with music”. Jesse decided not only to give one song completely free for their listeners, but also offered lyrics (it`s actually a very long and contemplative poem) and hi res artwork. We really believe this is a fair deal – from a very promising artist. You know what to do!

That`s Got Nothing To Do With Music debuted on BBC Introducing Hereford & Worcester on July 12th 2017

And if you need any more recommendation to get yourself a copy of “Classical Music” – please have a look at the photo posted recently by Steve Lamacq (of New Musical Express, Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music fame). Jesse`s EP has landed on his desk and was scheduled for listening. We think this is uber cool and only shows what potential JRDM has!

EP has made its way to 6 Music!

Hope you enjoy the review, coming up – everybody`s fav section – images from two great local photographers!

It`s been a week since the EP launch (you can buy it HERE) and we are getting some amazing shots from the night. Please let us show you photographs done by Andy O`Hare. Andy is a journalist of local chapter of BBC (BBC Hereford and Worcester) and also a staff member at the local SLAP Magazine. He is often seen in front rows, documenting local music scene with his camera in hand– the amount of gigs he attended would make John Peel envious!

Andy was so kind to come and photograph the EP launch despite a very busy schedule. And he allowed us to republish some of his shots on our blog.

More coverage dear readers! Let us present you with some stunning works of Duncan Graves. Originally from Manchester, Duncan relocated to Worcester and has been one of the cornerstones of the scene for many years. He is a freelance photographer working with local bands and magazines and documenting the music community we have in town.

Duncan was so kind to come and shot the EP launch and he agreed for his images to be part of this humble blog. And thanks to him, we can finally close the gap in our coverage as we did not have any shots of Stephen L Wright performing.

We will round up our coverage of Jesse`s EP with this statement. Classical Music has been sitting in our stereo for good three weeks now and we just love it to bits. It is such a nice little local record and surely one of the best debts we have seen on our scene in a long while. Actually, we spoke to folks who have been attending local gigs for years and what pops up in almost every conversation is the excitement people feel. Peace and The Tights are brought up (two local bands that hit it big) and how they made the town proud. What is also being noticed is Jesse`s much more ambitious approach and his strive to forge his own stage persona. Imagine, if this kid grows to be new Bowie – mentioned one gig veteran we ran into at the Market Hall Records one Saturday morning when we were all digging through newly arrived rarities. And there was no sarcasm in his voice. That man been going to shows around West Midlands for thirty five years and seen the good, the bad and the ugly of local music. If Jesse is able to win over such hardened listeners, then what really can stop him? All the best Jesse, we have our fingers crossed!

Ps. We really think you look better with flowers than Moz. Thanks for reading this blog!

Jesse is shocked. Mission accomplished! ^-^

Indieterria crew is so so happy with how this blog tuned out – and we hope you agree with us dear readers. Weeks of following the artist, at least 11 updates and corrections and we think we nailed it. Its rock and roll and we are so excited to bring you all the details and angles to the story:)